Energy News Beat
On this 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Red Army troops, it’s worth a brief reality check on how the greatest atrocity in human history is seen in Europe today.
It’s a depressing exercise. Though there is no shortage of official remembrances across the continent, the degree to which everyday Europeans are prepared to reflect on the Shoah and confront the persistent scourge of antisemitism in our societies is clearly on the wane – even in Germany.
Nearly 40% of Germans between the ages of 18 and 29 are unable to provide accurate information about what transpired during the Nazi period, according to a study published last week by the Jewish Claims Conference. An astounding 10% of German adults had not heard or were unsure if they’d ever heard of the Holocaust.
In much of the rest of Europe, the picture is no better.
“Across countries surveyed, large swathes of the population do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, and notable subsets of the populations believe 2 million or fewer Jews were killed,” the study found.
There’s no question that much of this ignorance resides in Muslim migrant communities, where hatred of Jews is as much a staple of daily life as baklava.
But we all know that’s not the whole picture.
Walk past Berlin’s gigantic Holocaust memorial on any given day and you’ll find tourists from all over Europe (and the rest of the world) taking selfies in one of the rows of black slabs, as if they were visiting Euro Disney.
Against this backdrop, it’s unsurprising that rising numbers of Europeans have no qualms about voting for (or collaborating with) openly racist parties. Or that the president of Ireland – a country deemed to be so hostile to Jews that Israel shuttered its embassy there – thinks its perfectly fine to raise Gaza during a ceremony to observe the Holocaust.
The sad reality is that at a time when the last living survivors of the Shoah are gradually dying out, much of Europe isn’t just ignorant about what happened – they don’t even really care.
Middle East – EU foreign ministers put their political stamp on the reactivation of EU-supervised checks at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Monday, clearing the way for an early February start.
Energy – Norwegian politicians are resisting attempts to implement critical EU energy laws, which would integrate the country more tightly into European power markets.
Agrifood – The European People’s Party (EPP) is calling on the European Parliament to give political impetus to new EU rules that could speed up approval of sustainable alternatives to traditional chemical pesticides.
Syria – EU foreign ministers on Monday agreed in principle to begin gradually easing sanctions on Syria to support economic recovery after the ouster of Bashar al-Assad.
Across Europe
Hungary – Hungary removed its veto on the EU’s six-month extension of Russia sanctions on Monday, but it may not be its last standoff.
France – The President of France’s Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella, will send a letter to the President of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber, asking to join forces to end the Green Deal.
Ireland – Ireland’s antisemitism controversy flared up again on Sunday after President Michael D. Higgins raised Gaza during a speech to mark Holocaust Memorial Day, sparking protests.
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The post The Brief – Never again? appeared first on Energy News Beat.
